Academic and Student Resources

Student Life

Be energized outside the classroom
Education goes beyond academics. The Law Tower constantly hums with social events that bring the fine art of diversionary tactics to a new level. You can join any of the 25-plus student organizations—ranging from the International Law Society to the Communication, Entertainment & Sports Law Association—which allows you to explore mutual areas of interests with JDs and other LLM students.

You’ll explore Boston and New England’s myriad diversions through a full schedule of social events:

  • Fall foliage/apple-picking excursion
  • Traditional New England clambake supper
  • International potluck dinner
  • Ski trip to Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire
  • Internationally themed dinners at local restaurants
  • Spirit of Boston harbor cruise
  • Red Sox outing at Fenway Park

You’ll be tempted by coffeehouses, yoga classes, Student Appreciation Days, holiday parties, social hours, the annual Public Interest Auction, and the annual Legal Follies student musical production, which pokes fun at BU Law.

You’ll take time out for:

  • Brown-bag lunches with professors, prominent outside speakers and alumni discussing current legal topics.
  • Lectures by visiting experts in BU Law’s Intellectual Property Speaker Series and Law & Economics Seminar Series
  • Major conferences, such as “The Role of the Judge in the 21st Century,” which explored the challenges and opportunities facing the judiciary, or ‘The Most Disparaged Branch: The Role of Congress in the 21st Century,’ which explored the challenges and opportunities facing Congress in the 21st century
  • Focused programs and events such as Diversity Week and Human Rights Week, which raise awareness of human rights issues, the impact of domestic surveillance on civil liberties, and the international protection of religious freedoms
  • Sporting events and popular music concerts at Agganis Arena, such as our Terrier hockey and basketball games, figure skating, gymnastics, boxing, and tennis, and such musical guests as the White Stripes, Alicia Keys, and Daughtry.
  • Exercising your body as well as your mind at the University’s state-of-the-art Fitness & Recreation Center. BU offers more than 80 classes and workshops, personal fitness services, and intramural sports. Or join one of BU Law’s own athletic clubs, including rugby, hockey, and running.

The Student Government Association (SGA) is the governing body for students at BU Law. The SGA is responsible for planning school-wide events, advocating on behalf of students, and allocating student activity fees funds to student groups. Each year, two LLM students are elected to serve in a non-voting capacity on BU Law’s Student Government Association, keeping the LLM community involved.

Additional student organizations include:

  • American Constitution Society
  • Art Law Society
  • Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA)
  • Better Living at BU
  • Black Law Student Association
  • Christian Legal Society
  • Communication, Entertainment, & Sports Law Association
  • Education and School Law Association
  • Environmental Law Society
  • Federalist Society
  • Health Law Association
  • Human Rights Law Society
  • Intellectual Property Law Society
  • Immigration Law and Policy
  • International Law Society
  • J. Reuben Clark Law Society
  • Jewish Law Student Association
  • Latin American Law Student Association (LALSA)
  • Law and Entrepreneurship
  • Law Real Estate Club
  • Law Running Club
  • Law Students for Reproductive Justice
  • Legal Follies
  • Liberty
  • Muslim Law Students Association
  • National Security Law Society
  • Older Wiser Law Students (OWLS)
  • OutLaw
  • Phi Alpha Delta
  • Public Interest Project
  • Shelter Legal Services
  • Softball Club
  • South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA)
  • Student Government Association
  • Women’s Law Association

Journals

You can gain first-hand exposure to legal scholarship. BU Law hosts six legal journals run by JD students. These publications invite scholarly work from the legal community and afford students the opportunity to make their own contributions.

  • 波士顿大学 Law Review
  • American Journal of Law & Medicine
  • Review of Banking & Financial Law
  • 波士顿大学 International Law Journal
  • Public Interest Law Journal
  • Journal of Science & Technology Law

You can make a difference. In the BU Law Pro Bono Program, which allows you to use your legal skills in a public interest setting in the Boston area, throughout the United States and around the world. Your will receive recognition on your transcript for such work.

Career Preparation

The Career Development Office

The CDO is dedicated to providing you with the personal service you need to achieve your goals. All of our career advisors are experienced attorneys with diverse backgrounds who will coach you on your career plans, no matter your area of interest. You can work with our CDO team to identify your career goals, learn how to approach a job search and take advantage of the many resources available to you, inside and outside the School. The CDO’s online appointment system allows you to make appointments easily with the advisor of your choice at a time that is convenient for you.

You can attend programs that expose you to a range of career options and practice settings, including pro bono, nonprofit and government work, large and small firm practice, corporate and international practice, judicial clerkships, and non-law opportunities, to name but a few.

You can attend workshops that will help you master the nuts and bolts of a job search, including conducting market research, preparing résumés and cover letters, and honing interviewing skills. As a 1L, you will be paired with a volunteer BU Law “Alumni Mentor,” who can provide additional insight about the legal profession, course selection, and career management.

You will have many options to pursue the career you want. Over 200 employers from at least 25 states come to BU Law to recruit students. The CDO sponsors additional regional recruiting programs in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. You will have opportunities to network with our alumni, learn about public interest jobs, and participate in national hiring programs, including two major government and public interest job fairs held annually in Boston.

Today, legal careers are often fluid and dynamic. CDO advisors will not only help you search for your first job—they will also help you gain a long-term perspective on managing your career. After graduation the CDO is available to provide resources for your lifelong career development.

LLM Career Advising

BU Law has an unwavering commitment to the career success of its LLM students. We offer a variety of programs and job search activities for LLM students, including workshops on job searches, résumé and cover letter drafting, networking and interviewing skills. We also organize career-related panels and speakers from specialized areas of practice. The Graduate & International Programs Office includes a full-time Assistant Director for Professional Development who works exclusively with LLM students. Students receive individualized counseling to help them design job searches and market themselves to the legal community.

You’ll be in touch with the world of U.S. legal practice through the annual ‘LLM Discovery Series,’ consisting of visits to law firms, companies, courthouses and government agencies where BU Law alumni practice.

LLM students and alumni have access to BU Law’s online job posting site, which includes openings for internships and permanent positions. Foreign-trained LLM students are invited to participate in the annual International Student Interview Program (ISIP), which draws over 200 potential global employers to New York City each year. Students enrolled in the Graduate Tax Program participate in our annual Tax Attorney Recruiting Event (TARE)—held in Washington, D.C.—a job fair targeted to recruiting for positions in law firms, government agencies, corporate legal departments and all “Big 4″ accounting firms. LLM students also have access to BU Law’s comprehensive career resources library and receive materials specifically tailored to their unique job search needs. After graduation, individual career advising remains available to support your lifelong career development.

Libraries

BU Law’s Pappas Law Library contains one of the largest law school research collections in the United States. You will have access to more than 650,000 volumes and thousands of licensed electronic resources for both legal and interdisciplinary research. You may also use other 波士顿大学 libraries, including the Mugar Memorial Library, adjacent to BU Law.

The Law Library is a member of several consortia with other major law libraries in New England and New York that share scholarly resources through document delivery services.

The library offers basic, advanced and topical research training classes. Librarians teach research classes and refreshers, provide daily research assistance to law students and offer individual research consultations for papers.

Technology

BU Law houses four computer labs with Windows XP-based computers. A wireless network is available in the Law School and in many coffee shops and gathering places on campus with service to the Internet, email, LexisNexis, Westlaw, a wide variety of Web-based research resources and interactive products from the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction. You’ll also have free access to a wide variety of computing resources through 波士顿大学’s Information Technology Office.